"There's a natural chemistry..."
"Best friends since they met in high school..."
"Evan is so cute, he should totally make a channel."
"Zoe and Evan are goals omg"
Zoe's eyes lift from her laptop, tracing across the room and landing on Evan. She knew that he'd take the comment section by storm. They're always enjoyable to read through, the outpouring of support and comments. Most notably covering her latest comment section is about her newest video with Evan.
"You're a hit, Evan."
"What?" He looks up from his book, confused.
"I said, you're a hit." Zoe folds her legs up onto the sofa and gestures for him to come over. Tentatively, Evan does; she watches his face far more than the screen as she scrolls through. He's nondescript aside from the flicker of unmistakable stunned happiness that brightens his eyes.
It had taken her almost a full week to convince him to join her for a video. Every time she so much as mentioned 'her roommate Evan', her fans filled the comments section asking for him to be in one. Myriads of excuses had come up every time she tried to rally him to make one with her. Zoe did not acquiesce; despite all that he said, she knows that the only thing that will help him get out of his shell will be too see that he doesn't have to hide behind the camera.
Evan couldn't resist Zoe for long; he had sighed slowly, dug his hands into his pockets and finally mumbled an agreement to join her.
She didn't tell him after filming but despite his quietness during the video, she noticed that he has a strong presence on screen. A certain unassuming, gentle manner when hesitantly speaking to the camera that makes someone stop to listen to what he has to say.
Zoe points her finger at the screen. "See all the great comments? People love you, Evan."
"Oh, please."
Zoe smiles indulgently. "How can they not? I'm getting a zillion tweets asking if you're single now."
His lips twitch upwards in a timid but relieved smile. "It wasn't so bad, I mean, it was kind of just like us being us and talking. Except we filmed it this time."
Zoe shuts the laptop, tilts her head at him expectantly. "So will you completely turn me down if I asked you to be in another one with me soon?"
He deliberates before giving her the answer that she wants.
-
Two minutes and fifty seconds.
Two minutes. Fifty seconds.
"That's as long as your video has to be," Zoe promises from behind the camera, focusing the lens away from the floor and Evan's bouncing knee. Steadying the lens on his face, she sees his doubtful expression. "That's plenty of time to introduce yourself, say a few things and end the video."
Evan extends a reaching hand towards her, despite being separated by the glaring light and camera in his face. "Why can't you be in this with me?"
"Because this is not about me," Zoe replies calmly and logically. "Just be your lovely self and it'll be fine."
"I don't know what to say," Evan objects.
Zoe doesn't have to answer. She knows that he will find the words. He always has before.
And he does now.
The camera switches on and Zoe encouragingly smiles at him from behind it. Evan draws courage from this gesture. Clearing his throat, he fights down the tightness in his throat and hears himself begin to speak.
-
The questions flood her feed as Zoe, curled up comfortably in her favourite armchair, talks into her live stream.
"'Are you happy for Evan hitting 2k subscribers?' Yes! I am so, so happy. He deserves all of them."
Evan, laying across the sofa with a textbook, smiles over at her. Zoe diverts her attention towards him for a fraction of a second, enough to give him the slightest facial indication of amusement.
Scanning the questions and comments flowing in, Zoe sees one in particular that stands out. "How did Evan and I meet? I think I might have mentioned this before but we knew each other in high school and since I'm in college, I needed a roommate to help me pay for my apartment. Evan and the apartment were a package deal."
A package deal. Of course she knew Evan before they moved in together, he'd always been circulating her life but never in it. It wasn't until she'd put up a notice for a roommate that he rather stumbled into the heart of her life. After going through a dozen roommates who disliked her filming constantly, Zoe desperately put up her notice for a roommate once more.
She'd expected Evan to be sick of the cameras and lighting equipment just like everyone else after a while.
He did not.
And now, he hesitantly uploads videos about anything from positive, warm encouragement or little stories about his life and the people he's met. Zoe's not ignorant to the confidence this has given him; his slow and steady blossom of self assuredness is a relief to her.
Without warning, without a sign, the moment he brought his suitcase into her apartment for the first time, he brought himself as a permanent fixture. Without one, there really can not be the other. The two major facets of her life, her apartment and her videos became a three-fold with Evan, a chain that can't be broken.
A package deal.
-
She first notices it on a December morning.
Pouring tea into two separate cups, they stand at the glass doors leading to their tiny balcony overlooking the snow-capped rooftops of the town. Flakes of snow speckle the glass, silver clouds and pale rays of light mingle together. Quiet fills every inch of the room and the cinnamon tea is sweet on her tongue.
She looks over at him fondly and for the first time, notices how his face looks when illuminated by the glowing early morning sunlight.
Zoe shakes it off and dismisses it.
Dismissing it doesn't abate the flares that spring to life at the most random moments, much to her confusion. When they film a video together and laugh too hard to continue the story; she always notices how his eyes glitter and his nose crinkles as his laughter pleasantly fills the room, melding with her's.
Another flare rises in her chest is as she scrolls through her tweets and comes across fan art of the two of them, clearly holding hands. It's realistic, so realistic that Zoe wonders if she has ever looked at Evan like the artist has depicted.
Zoe just taps the like button and keeps scrolling.
-
Living together sets up certain situations that can't be avoided. Grocery shopping. Power outages. Sickness and health. Family and friends coming over.
For the first time, Heidi comes to stay overnight while Zoe and Evan have winter break.
Zoe wishes that there is a way to tell if Heidi actually likes her or just views her as the random girl that lives with her son. Heidi is always sweet, undoubtedly so, but she observes them with the sharp eyes that only a protective mother has. And she always looks as though she has something to say to Zoe but the proper words to convey her message haven't been created yet.
This visit is no different.
As Evan goes to get her suitcase from the car, there's a brief pause that leaves them both alone in Zoe's bedroom.
"This is your room?" Heidi asks, looking around at the pastel design.
Zoe nods, fiddles with one of the numerous bracelets that line her wrist. "You've never stayed over before so Evan and I thought you might like my room."
"Where will you sleep?"
It's blunt, forwardly put. It isn't a question, not really. Not in the traditional sense. It's a statement, one that says far more than the surface.
"Evan was going to sleep on the couch, I'll take his room."
Heidi pauses and her lips part as though she has something to say but Evan comes in with her suitcase and the unspoken words dissolve.
-
Zoe has never slept in Evan's room before.
She's been in it a thousand times; she'd practically lived in there when he had the flu last year and she'd taken care of him tirelessly. They'd filmed a few videos in it; most are in her bedroom or the living room. But to be alone in it and look around makes her notice for the first time that he's changed some things. It used to be stark, white, unemotional.
Now it reminds her of a forest; the indoor plants, the pale green walls, the soft lights. So very him.
Zoe is tying her bathrobe when Evan knocks on the door.
"Hey," he says, opening it slightly. "Are you comfortable in here?"
Zoe comes closer. "Of course. The changes that you made are really cool. It's not so...cold."
Evan flushes, timidly casting his eyes across the room. "I'm glad you like it." His head tilts against the door frame, looking shadowed and faded in the dim light.
Zoe doesn't know why her chest feels tight. "Yeah, I really do."
And he smiles, his quiet smile. "Thanks for letting my mom stay."
"Of course, it's no problem." Zoe licks her lips and swallows before gathering the courage to ask him, "Do you think that...she likes me?"
Evan's eyes widen. "I don't see how she can't not like you."
"You're just saying that."
"No, I'm not."
Zoe draws in a breath and leans against the doorframe with him, closing off the proximity between their two faces. It's closer than she thought it would be. In a low voice, she says, "I think that she thinks I'm just a weird, random girl who lives with her son. She barely remembers me from when you and I were in high school together."
"She just doesn't know you, that's all. And you're not weird. Or random."
Nervous fingers play with the ribbon around her waist. Zoe dips her head and stares at the carpet, observing the pattern before quietly saying, "Thanks, Evan." There's a pause; lifting her eyes, Zoe wonders if he's always stood so close before.
Evan takes an abrupt step back. "I better go to bed. Night, Zoe."
"Night."